Sensor Managed Apparatus, Method and Computer Program Product

1. An electronic device comprising: an interactive display having a sensor that detects user interaction with a sub-portion of the interactive display; and a processing circuit configured to change a state of the interactive display from a low power state to an operational state in response to detected user interaction with the electronic device, wherein the processing circuit is configured to perform the state change after determining that a detected capacitance pattern, caused by an object used to generate the user interaction, matches a preregistered capacitance pattern within a predetermined amount, the user interaction is a touch event against a surface of the sub-portion of a touch panel display, the sub-portion being arranged in an adjacent area of a main portion of the interactive display and including a plurality of soft key regions that include at least a first soft key and a second soft key, and the touch event includes a movement across the soft key regions that include the first soft key region and the second soft key region.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sub-portion is disposed at an end portion of the interactive display, and is visually separated from a main display portion of said interactive display by a material that optically covers at least a portion of said sub-portion but not said main display portion.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising: a front planar material having an external surface that separates the sensor from the object used to generate the user interaction, wherein the interactive display being the touch panel, and the sensor being a capacitance sensor that is reactive to the touch event.

4. The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the user interaction is the touch event that includes a movement of said object over said front planar material while remaining in contact with said front planar material.

5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit determines that the first soft key region is included in the touch event before determining that the second soft key region is included in the touch event.

6. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the processing circuit determines that the first soft key region is included in the touch event by receiving a signal from the sensor indicating that a change in detected capacitance amount exceeded a predetermined level for a portion of the sensor that corresponds with the first soft key region.

7. The electronic device of claim 3 , further comprising: a storage medium that has data stored therein describing the preregistered capacitance pattern.

8. The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the user interaction is a proximity detection that includes a movement of said object over said front planar material without contacting said front planar material.

9. The electronic device of claim 8 , further comprising: a storage medium that has data stored therein describing a preregistered proximity pattern, wherein the processing circuit performs the state change after determining that a detected proximity pattern caused by the object matches the preregistered proximity pattern within a predetermined amount.

10. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the processing circuit performs a cross-correlation operation to determine that the detected proximity pattern caused by the object matches the preregistered proximity pattern within the predetermined amount.

11. The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the user interaction is a multi-point gesture that includes a movement of said object over said front planar material.

12. The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising: a feedback mechanism that provides a haptic response when the detected user interaction is recognized by the processing circuit as being a user interaction that is associated with a wake up and an unlock instruction.

13. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein said feedback mechanism includes at least one of an illumination device, and a tactile sensation device.

14. A method for managing operation of a user interface in an electronic device comprising: detecting, with a sensor, user interaction with a sub-portion of an interactive display; and executing, with a processing circuit, a state change of the interactive display from a low power state to an operational state in response to detected user interaction with the electronic device, wherein the processing circuit is configured to perform the state change after determining that a detected capacitance pattern, caused by an object used to generate the user interaction, matches a preregistered capacitance pattern within a predetermined amount, the user interaction is a touch event against a surface of the sub-portion of a touch panel display, the sub-portion being arranged in an adjacent area of a main portion of the interactive display and including a plurality of soft key regions that include at least a first soft key and a second soft key, and the touch event includes a movement across the soft key regions that include the first soft key region and the second soft key region.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the user interaction is a touch event that includes a movement of said object over a front planar material while remaining in contact with said front planar material, said front planar material separating said sensor from the object that generates the user interaction.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein said executing includes determining that a change in detected capacitance exceeds a predetermined level for a portion of the sensor that corresponds with a first soft key region.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the user interaction is a touch event that includes a movement of said object over a front planar material but does not contact said front planar material, said front planar material separating said sensor from the object that generates the user interaction.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein said executing includes determining that a detected proximity pattern caused by the object matches a preregistered proximity pattern within a predetermine amount.

19. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable instructions that when executed by a processing circuit implement a method of managing a user interface in an electronic device, said method comprising: detecting, with a sensor, user interaction with a sub-portion of an interactive display; and executing, with a processing circuit, a state change of the interactive display from a low power state to an operational state in response to detected user interaction with the electronic device, wherein the processing circuit is configured to perform the state change after determining that a detected capacitance pattern, caused by an object used to generate the user interaction, matches a preregistered capacitance pattern within a predetermined amount, the user interaction is a touch event against a surface of the sub-portion of a touch panel display, the sub-portion being arranged in an adjacent area of a main portion of the interactive display and including a plurality of soft key regions that include at least a first soft key and a second soft key, and the touch event includes a movement across the soft key regions that include the first soft key region and the second soft key region.